Angus Justice"It tickles, Angus", Wionna moaned, and Angus looked up between the thighs of the redheaded female mechanic. She wasn't the prettiest aboard the Copernicus, that honor was the Doctor's, but Angus had always liked the blunt redhead and her playful antics. "Lie still, d**nit!", he said and placed one hand on each hip and pinched the girl playfully. Wionna wriggled, but kept still and with studied precision Angus put his nose just beneath her belly button and inhaled, moving it ever closer to her private parts.

"Your turn", he said and flipped her around until she stood on her knees with her face buried in a pillow. "One more... Just one more". Wionna arranged a stripe on the nightstand just as Angus did his thing. Cocaine and Cyalis. It had always worked wonders for him, and for half an hour, Wionna could be heard all the way down to the mess hall.

"Angus Justice, please report to the hangar bay. Please take your belongings with you.". The voice was cold and lifeless, and a shudder went down his spine. It was one of the masters, a scientist he had never heard before, but given that just 11 servants remained on the orbital station, it had to be one of the scientists. He knew how everyone else sounded.

"Angus... Have you done something wrong?", Wionna's voice was full of fear and her words stayed with him as he made his way to the hangar.

Mortimer Lucrum"How long until we run out?", the voice was cold and calculating and sounded as if it belonged to an older man. Mortimer was careful not to breathe too deeply, and put his toes down with the grace of a cat on the hunt.

"45 days. Without the servants, more like 60", a husky female voice replied. Mortimer could see their reflection now as it played upon the surface of a steel cabinet. The male was indeed old, wearing a white coat and carrying an assault rifle casually in his hands. The woman seemed young, her long blonde hair in a ponytail. She wore a black blouse and mini-skirt, the red of her louboutins showing in the reflection.

The old man paused for a minute, then spoke again, dwelling on each sentence. "The new directives will deal with that situation. Have you selected which of the servants that will do this thing for us?"

"Yes. The Doctor have accumulated a list of suitable candidates, sir. We have also scanned the surface of the northern hemisphere for a few months now. We have a few dozen key locations that might have what we search for. We have also identified fifty or so technologically advanced hubs of civilization. The one I've picked is perfect for this deal"

"And are you sure they can be trusted?", the old man said doubtfully.

"I am not sure of anything. These Kildrasa operate out of old Amsterdam, and they have an impressive array of technological toys. They are likely to have what we look for. If they will honor the deal, well... I just don't know", her voice was grave, but Mortimer could see that she held the old man's hands in hers, their eyes locked.

He was visibly startled, but remained calm. Within a few seconds he was running silently down the hallway, heading for the barracks. Whatever this was about, he better be quick. The masters expected nothing less than perfection of their servitude.

Captain Phil Marion and the First Doctor of the Copernicus stood side by side, facing the 120 inch monitor.

The Captain was an impressive man, barrel chested and full of bulging muscles. His dark gray Captain's uniform enhanced the tones of his muscular body. He looked truly imperious, a vision of military might.

"Yes, master! I shall follow your orders to the letter. Enter the ruins of old Amsterdam, locate the power source, secure the artifact!"

The trio of scientists displayed on screen nodded simultanously in satisfaction. One of them even licked his lips, then rubbed his hands together.

"And Doctor, are you confident you selected the best crew for this?"

The beautiful female doctor stood silent and deadly, casting an icy sidelong glance at the Captain by her side.

"Yes Master. I have selected each party member for their qualities. I assure you, there are none more suited than these"

"Excellent! Most excellent, Doctor! And remember, once you have the power source, remember to take notes of storage areas, particularly those who look like they store food. We need resources, and as soon as the... power source is located, we need those. As a matter of fact, please run a live report to us about whatever you find as you scout the ruins!"

The Captain and his Doctor turned around just as the screen shut down. They looked briefly at each other, then started walking towards Hangar Bay.

The hydraulic sounds of the Stavros exoskeleton had never bothered her. Rather those were the songs of her subconscious.

HISSSSS.

She bent down and picked up a 250 kilo crate from the floor. When she "had her Stavros on", nothing could stop her and with her usual precision she carried the crate down to Hangar Bay. She settled into a noisy jog, the hydraulics sounding like some steam dragon as she sprinted at high speed, the crate held in front, the bottom of the crate just above eye level.

HISSSSS!

She remembered him. He never told her his name, but she remembered his his cold, lifeless eyes. She remembered him as he led her mother into the next room. HISSSSSSSSSSS! Her mother screaming one last time in her head. One last message from the mother who had sung the headsong her entire childhood. "Run Becka! Run! They mean to kill you! They just killed me! I was told I was being promoted, and they shoved me into an airlock. Becka... Ru...", and with that, Rebecca felt her bond with her mother dissolve.

HISSSSS!

Rebecca flexed her muscles, the skin sensors picking up the sudden motion and with a thud, the crateful of spacesuits was dumped just outside the cargo doors of the USF MS Bradley."What will they do now, Rebecca?"

It was her mother speaking. Yet Rebecca knew it wasn't her mother, rather an echo still residing in her mind. The echo of a mother long lost.The tall, athletic woman stepped out of the mecha exoskeleton and used a crowbar to pry the crate open. 9 space suits. Standard issue for a Pietini Class Space Shuttle.

She studied them. She knew what they were. The would be masters. Tormentors. Captors. Murderers.

"Won't you follow your mother girl?". The man with the cold eyes were talking to the guard who had escorted them. Rebecca didn't know how she did it. She had never done it before. Her mother had, and had sung in her head about what she could do. What Rebecca one day would be able to do.Now the soldier who thought he was a little girl walked into the airlock.

HISSSSSSS!

"Follow me, soldier. You have done well today"

Beside him little Rebecca was crying, but followed obediently. Of course he never saw that. He saw a stone faced soldier, following orders.

HISSSSS!

She was wiping her tears as the others came rushing to the shuttle.

Mortimer was first, obviously distressed. She didn't know why. The shuttle pilot was always out scouting the station. Perhaps he had gotten himself into trouble.Then came the Captain. Captain Marion. Phil Marion. Rebecca knew he was strong. She was not certain who would win, if it came down to her in the mecha suit, the Captain with just his augmentations. He was that strong. Luckily, his mind proved a feeble thing, and he never bothered her.

At his heels a puffy faced Angus Justice and perfect Katherine, the onboard Doctor. None of them paid her any heed, just walked on by as she sat with her backpack, counting bullets and checking her motion sensor once again.

HISSSS!

The doors to the passenger bay closed and Rebecca left her items in her locker, then entered the cockpit and sat down beside Mortimer, just as the first pilot gently eased the shuttle into the air.

For a few seconds the shuttle was suspended in mid-air, as the red flashing of emergency lights painted the hangar red.Then the hangar doors opened, and USF MS Bradley gently flew into space, Mortimer's experienced hands expertly handling the cyclic stick.

They heard the thunder of the rocket engines as the shuttle gently thrust into the air.

"YEEEHAAAAW!"

Captain Phil was in ecstacy, and with a slam he pressed the intercom beside the seat in which he was strapped.

"Our orders are clear, folks! Our generous lords wants us down in the ruins of Earth. Set course for 52.36407 by 4.907398, Mortimer! I want to touch down asap zulu!"

OOC:You are now spaceborn, on your way to ruined earth. For those who wonder, the coordinates is to the suburbs of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Zuid (South) to be precise. Unless you got some old earth map asperger skill, only Captain Phil and Doctor Katherine knows you are actually heading for old Amsterdam. Unfortunately they only Amsterdam by name, that is was supposed to be a bigger city of the Ancients.

I need to know what your characters are doing. Mortimer and Rebecca are strapped into the cockpit, while the rest of you probably are strapped into your seats in passenger bay. It is also possible to have a gunner in the Gunner's Nest.

The freedom of open space got to him every time. No more rules, no more scientists, just him and his co-pilot. Oh, and more importantly: a big honking gun to mow down his enemies with. If only one could operate it from the pilot's seat. He glanced over at Rebecca. She confident enough behind the multitude of buttons and levers and switches. Mortimer had not had the pleasure of piloting the Mary Sue with her, before. Normally they took different shifts for the scientists. His gaze registered on one of those switches, and he flipped it on, grabbing a mic as he did so.

"This is your pilot speaking. Approximately 72 minutes till we reach earth. Make sure to buckles your seat belts, and one of you man the gatling gun," he said into the mike. He turned it off, but then thought better of it, and switched it back on.

"On second thought, we have things to discuss. All three of you report to the cockpit."

He had not in fact done anything wrong. Anything out of the ordinary anyway.

Once he saw the rest of the gang, he understood why the scientists saw fit to select him for this mission. His job would be to somehow ensure their survival.

*HISSSSS!*

Look at her sitting there. A firearm like *that* and now it’s ‘nice knowing you’, Angus.

His eyes went from Rebecca back to the Doctor, as he watched her strapping herself in cozy and tight.

*rocket engines*

“You hear him?” he grinned and said to the Doc, referring to Marion’s ebullient vigor over the intercom. “That’s our Captaaaain Phiiiiiil!” He laughed then shook his head slightly, clearing out the cobwebs best he could from the rocketball concoction he taken not an hour ago.

"I’ll be in the Gunner’s Nest, if you just want to…chat later, Doc.”

Strapped in moments later, I'm @!#$ed when I get back, for all those weapons...Well, goooodbyyye Wiooonnaaaaa....Heelloooooo rest-of-everywhere-else-outside-space-station!

Upon hearing Mortimer's obnoxious voice, he sighed, did a quick blast, and with a skip in his step headed for the cockpit.

PoisonAlchemist: Man Muro, you boost my confidence and then you just go crush it with a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.Pariah: Don't tell him things like that, if his head gets any bigger he'll float off like a weather ballon :p

As the heads of the crew poked into the cockpit, Rebecca took out two tubes, a pack of stackable metal cups and a battered metal plate."There were some stockpiles in the abandoned ward three, down below the engineering section. It is not much, but..."

She placed a stack of cookies on the plate, and poured coffee into the cups, adding a little condensed milk from a tube."These 'Oreo' are artificial, even bacteria will not touch them, but... cookies, eh?"

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

The descent trajectory had been calculated, and Mortimer edged the shuttlecraft past the Copernicus one last time before they headed towards their destination. The Space Station was currently in space above an area the onboard computer identified as Alaska, so they had to scrub the stratosphere for a while, gliding along the curvature of the Earth.

***

Angus just loved the gunner's nest. While the automated target-assistance system was out of order, the view was not. The Guardsman was strapped into an upright position, his head sticking out of the spacecraft. Amazingly he was only protected by a thick layer of armored glass. The picturesque view didn't last very long, for as Mortimer turned the spacecraft around, Earth and empty space was replaced by the huge metallic bulk of the Copernicus. At the peak of the immense structure, Angus noticed the bridge. It was illuminated by harsh white lighting, fourteen unmoving persons in white lab coats observing their flight away from the Space Station. The gattling gun made some clicking noises, and the husky female voice of the Mary Sue Bradley onboard computer spoke.

"Friendly Fire Lock Engaged"

***

The flight had not last more than 32 minutes, when the dark bulk of a larger spacegoing vessel appeared on the heads up display in the cockpit. It was big. Not as big as the Copernicus, not by a long shot, but dwarfing their shuttle. After a few seconds, more information appeared on the H.U.D.

Construction of the Demeter Class of spacegoing vessels began in 2109, at the order of the Chairman of the People's Republic of China. Demeter Class Carrier Spacecraft can hold up to twenty attack drones and are usually equipped with four long range nuclear missiles.

"Why, that is just perfect! Cookies! " the captain took slightly more then a fair share and gobbled them down. "What a great start!"....

"Excellent, I was hoping would could test some of the systems. This is your Captain speaking. As of.. oh-eight hundred hour of this day, a state of war exists between us and the People's Republic of China. Pilot, bring us into firing range. Gunner, be read to light 'em up on my mark! Everyone else to your battle stations! " Phil had taken his training simulations too seriously...

The smart thing would be to give the d**n thing a wide berth. But that would be smart, and booring... Hopefully we survive this...

Rebecca looked at the captain, bashfully smiling.Then, she kicked Mortimer under the steering panel, and gave him a wink... then ran her hands over the shuttle's controls, until she hit 'Test' which tested whether all the alarm and information lights were functional. A good percentage of them were, actually, flaring up, the buzzers sounding. She emphasized the suddenly lively situation in the cockpit by briefly tapping a side thruster; the jerk propelled the lone remaining cookie through the cockpit.

"Sir, we cannot approach any closer, the Chinese have... uh, gravitation interference shielding or a space interdictor running. I am so sorry."She certainly seemed to see it as a personal fault that the devious Chinese had installed such a doomsday device in their vessel.Uncertainty in her voice, she sought confirmation with Mortimer. "Do you see it the same way, Mortimer? We cannot get any closer, and must in fact give them a wide berth..."

« Last Edit: November 28, 2013, 09:14:27 AM by EchoMirage »

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

"yes, yes of course we can't get closer," replied Mortimer, "unless, of course, we decided to be complete idiots. Our illustrious captain, though, needs us closer to the Demeter Class spaceship, and so now is not the time for brains."

His hands breezed over the controls for a moment, as if in a prayer to the Mary Sue to see them safely through this.

"So, if we take a tangent course to their gravitation interference shielding..." the ship turned and made its flight path perpendicular to the chinese ship. "And then follow their orbital path without engine push..." with but momentum to power them and the enemy spacecraft to provide the gravitational pull to keep them in orbit, Mortimer cut the engine's power. "Goosing the port engine should slip us out of their maximum orbital/shield radius and into free space." The port engine flared into life spectacularly, accelerating as if something worse than the scientists were chasing it. "we might just be within their shields, ready to open fire."

(10:25:09) Minion: caesar193 rolls 1d100 and gets 28. For piloting roll. I'm going to assume that's a success, since I have no idea what kind of negative modifiers you're going to throw on.

Sure enough, Mortimer's expert piloting saw them flying within the Demeter Class ship's shield range, flying free as a bird. Smiling in the thrill of winning, Mortimer grabbed us mike and radioed down to their captain that they were "within gatling gun range. We can open fire whenever you so desire."

The captain was overjoyed - Science! triumphed again, though the comment on shields was starting to burrow its way into his conciousness Shields?

"Can we narrow down _whats_ moving over there? I wouldn't mind being able to take this Demeter as a prize ship on our way back, and wouldn't do to muck her up too much. Probably one of the drones survived the s**t storm the ship took before. " And after a moment's reflection "Also might not do to hit one of the old nukes they might still have on board."

The stars shifted and rotated as Mortimer's maneuvering changed his vista once again. Suddenly Angus spotted two cigar shaped metallic vessels being outlined by the heads up display in his gunnery nest.

The Vespertine Class Fighter Drones are standard issue fighter drones aboard Demeter Class Carrier Vessels. Wholly automated, these short range fighters are lethal adversaries and difficult to hit due to their small size and agile maneuvability.

PoisonAlchemist: Man Muro, you boost my confidence and then you just go crush it with a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.Pariah: Don't tell him things like that, if his head gets any bigger he'll float off like a weather ballon :p

The Gattling Gun felt like a jackhammer in his hands, the rapid fire jolting his torso something fierce. As the gunner clenched his teeth together and swiped the drones with an immense rain of hellfire, Mary Sue shouted along like a demented cheerleader!

"Kill them, gunner! Kill! Kill them! Blast them out of space! Gooo Team Marion, Gooo! For Science! For Propsperity! For the entire human race!"

Angus' eyes popped open as the fully repaired fighter drone lit up and exploded. The other seemed to be raging with electric fire that quickly died due to lack of any oxygen. The fighter drone dove like a falcon, straight at the Mary Sue. There were four flashes of fire in rapid succession, then the Mary Sue forcibly jolted twice.

***

Mortimer kept the shuttlecraft steady, giving Angus the best possible aim. Indicators on the control panel lit up, and the two pilots watched as the remaining ammo counter went from 1000 to 900.

Rebecca was hit by a blob of zero gravity coffee as an explosion shook the shuttlecraft, then another explosion, and suddenly everything was spinning and Rebecca could see the stern doctor Katherine Bradshaw-Brennan had floated unto the ceiling, where she was suspended, looking down with an expression of terror.

The drone was heavily damaged, but still it kept coming. While Mortimer's steady piloting was a boon to his firing, it made it easy for the drone to fall into their wake. Then, for five seconds, Angus was sure they were done for. But nothing happened. The drone just followed them, not opening fire, and he wasn't gonna let it try again.

With the squeeze of his fingers, Angus released another hail of bullets.

It was easier now, the drone steady in their wake, and the guardsman shouted with joy as the drone lit up in an explosion, and dropped of the radar. It was silent again for a few seconds. Then Mary Sue informed him that the passenger bay had been breached, and he was advised to stay in the gunner's nest for the time being.

He ignored Captain Phil the Thrill's cheerleading, but his eyes opened wide when the pooper report was broadcast. The cocaine was raging through his body, and somehow he'd *have* to take a crap...soon and somewhere.

PoisonAlchemist: Man Muro, you boost my confidence and then you just go crush it with a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.Pariah: Don't tell him things like that, if his head gets any bigger he'll float off like a weather ballon :p

Rebecca was startled by Mortimer's ignorance - she had expected the Captain to be detached from reality, and pampered by the well-administered positive reinforcement from the scientists, vastly overestimating his capabilities.

She had never called Mortimer 'runt', much like the others did, but she had to wonder what drove him to such heights of recklessness - was it compensation?

Shrugging, she put her helmet on as he started his expert maneuvers to avoid the nonexistent shield and gravity field - with her suit's rockets, she might be able to reach something in the worst case, unless the explosion or the drones claimed her.

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

Exiting the shields was not as much of a problem was entering them. The majority of such shields was focused on keeping things out, and not keeping things out. Though some models had designs to keep things from exiting, so people on the surface of the ship doing repairs don't go flying off into space and death, most did not. And the best way to deal with that type was momentum.

Mortimer banked the ship starboard so that it was pointing towards earth.

The Captain and the Doctor had a hard time making it down the stairs, and when they finally strapped in, the thin air in passenger bay was definitely making them uncomfortable.

They descended towards the dark side of Earth, night enveloping Europe completely. Rebecca pulled up the diagnostics on the H.U.D. while Mortimer expertly handled the cyclic stick, opting for a smooth entry. Somehow something went wrong, and an explosion propelled the spacecraft sideways, spiralling out of control, then, with Rebecca's and Mortimer's desperate maneuvering, they steadied her once again before she could be torn apart.

From his vantage point, Angus witnessed the explosion. Just as protective metal shielding began encasing his gunnery nest, the starboard (right) engine exploded and suddenly they spiralled out of control. The timing was bad, considering his upset stomach.

***

The Starboard Engine was burning, the shuttle going down fast. Rebecca had the damage report on her heads up display, and Mary Sue was hurt in a bad way.

***

Shaking like crash test dummies in a violent collision test, Phil and Katherine were being jolted forcibly. They didn't know what was going on, but everything was shaking and spinning, it was making them sick.OOC: Roll 1D20. If you roll your Physique or below, you are fine. If you roll higher than your physique, you are gonna be sooo seasick

***

Mortimer and Rebecca, two excellent pilots, did what they could with what they had. Rebecca plotted the course as best she could, Mortimer held the shuttle together, flying towards Amsterdam with only one engine.

***

Dirk of the Kildrasa watched as the shuttle plummeted to the ground from his vantage point on the roof of an empty warehouse district parking building. He had been told to scout for it, but did not expect to see it come in so hard, with one burning engine.

It had not been a gentle landing, and Mary Sue had gone through a warehouse building before it settled down in an alley.

Rebecca scanned their surroundings, and it seemed that the area was without any motion in a kilometer's radius, except that inside the shuttle. The radiation levels outside were, oddly enough, within normal range. They had expected to be landing in a sheltered environment, or so they had been informed, but what need for a sheltered environment was there, when radiation levels were fine, oxygen levels were fine, and not a single hostile being in range?

***

Angus pressed a button, and the metal shielding disappered, once again giving him free line of sight. It was dark outside, but the flames from their starboard engine lit the area up. It appeared that they had landed in some sort of alley. He could see a rusted green dumpster in front of them, and the torn open wall of a warehouse at their back. To his left he saw a huge billboard, the words "Honeywell" written on it. To the right a brick wall, going further up about five meters.